


fashion

by Stillreadingfanfictbh



Series: Larry One Shots [11]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fashion Designer Harry Styles, Fluff, M/M, Miscommunication, Project Runway AU, judge/critique louis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:08:02
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24832105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stillreadingfanfictbh/pseuds/Stillreadingfanfictbh
Summary: project runway au where harry is an up and coming fashion designer and louis is a critique that works for vogue and is a judge on project runway.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Series: Larry One Shots [11]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2162739
Kudos: 10





	fashion

brief character overview

at the age of twenty-seven louis tomlinson is known as the best fashion critic of the century. when louis got out of college he was lucky enough to get an internship in pubic relations team at givency. after the internship, louis had a team of people that would back him up and give him stunning letters of recommendations that could land him a job at any magazine or any fashion company he wanted. so, he has had fashion magazines all over the world fighting for him to be on their team. so, obviously he chose to work at vogue. he started as a mere bottom of the bottom journalist, but years after working at vogue he became the top critic at vogue. designers ask for him personally to be at shows in hopes that he would give their line a good critique. a good critique from louis tomlinson is hard to get, but if you do get one then you should expect the clothes to be sold out in no time with people lining up to get more.

harry styles wanted to be a fashion designer since he was eight. he would play with his sisters dolls and make them walk a "runway." he would cut the little barbie clothes and mix-n-match them until his grandma taught him how to make his own barbie clothes with little pieces of fabric, a needle, and thread. harry worked his ass off for years to open his own, small, fashion company in the middle of london. harry has had many people come to him for designs of suits and dresses that fit their own individual personalities at a great cost and that they wouldn't fin anywhere else. he even designed two suits for niall horan and a dress for gigi hadid. even with these well known customers he still wasn't getting the business or recognition that he wanted. so, on the weekend of his twenty-fifth birthday harry signed up to be on the upcoming season of project runway.

the first time they meet: project runway - week three - challenge 7

harry styles was stressed. during the last challenge he was one of the bottom three because of a less than perfect (and unfinished) victorian dress for the newest season of the popular show victoria. its just that harry was so upset about cara leaving because of the challenge before. he and cara were really close, his heart was broken when she left. also he was more than a little upset about her leaving instead of another contestant, leslie, who has been in the bottom the last four challenges. all of leslie's outfits were a little too crazy and a little too costum-y and she should have been out ages ago. cara has never been in the bottom, and the one time she is in the bottom, she gets cut out. harry was pissed at the judges and at leslie, and the last challenge was all he could think about while designing the victorian dress. being distracted during a challenge is not ideal, and usually creates a very bad outfit.

the only thing that kept harry from leaving was joshua casey's victorian jumpsuit because what kind of respected victorian lady would wear a jumpsuit? honestly, at least harry's judgement wasn't that far gone. so basically harry has to ace this challenge. which is going to be really fucking hard because louis tomlinson is a guest judge.

this challenge is going to be a fun one, its three day challenge where the designers are to create a red carpet look that demonstrates each designers individual point of views. harry couldn't have asked for a better challenge. he has always wanted to design a black and gold suit with gold chains under the jacket instead of an under shirt, it was precisely what harry would wear if he, himself, were to walk a red carpet.

christian siriano, their mentor, gives harry a good review on his suit. harry is way ahead of the four other contestants. while the other designers had rough sketches and and unfocused ideas, harry had specific sketches and focused designs that allowed him to rush through the designing process. harry's suit as basically finished when the models came in and after doing some extra fitting, harry had plenty of time to perfect his design and add more details. harry knows that he is going to win this round.

his model looks perfect when she walks down the runway. she has specks of gold throughout her long black hair. her suit looks stunning. her long heels have gold glitter on them too, which really puts the entire look together. of all the challenges and all his looks, harry is most proud this one.

since there are only six designers left, including harry, they are all asked to step on stage and explain their looks. harry has had his explanation in his mind for hours.

"harry," karlie kloss says, in light of the reality tv show, she is as dramatic as ever, "you were in the bottom last week, but you definitely don't see that here. at first glance, i would consider this look one of the top looks in this challenge. tell us more about it."

harry grins and nods his head at karlie as a thanks before saying, "so, i have had this design mapped out in my head for forever. i've always wanted to do a fitted suit with chains as an undershirt. i thought that the black with gold undertones was perfect as an elegant red carpet look."

"i think the colors are perfect and the fit is perfect." elaine says, "it looks like you spent a lot of time on this look, which you don't usually see during challenges."

brandon maxwell says, "i cant wait to get a closer look at this suit, because from here it looks like there are almost no imperfections. so how do the chains work? are they pulled over like a top or are they actually attached to the suit?"

harry leans closer to his model and pulls open the suit jacket, "they are held together with hooks at the seam, i thought that designing the chains as a top would give the suit a bulky feel."

brandon nods, then looks over at the guest judge, "what do you think louis?"

harry has been looking forward to what louis is going to say all night. and standing up here under his judgmental gaze is more than a little nerve wracking. it doesnt help that louis is probably the most beautiful man harry has ever seen. he has perfect proportions and harry would kill to design a look for louis. louis takes a second to look over the model again, "i think that the chains are a bit much. i would have personally done with a normal under shirt, but other than that i think you totally aced the look."

harrys eyebrows scrunch together and he gives louis what he hopes looks like a glare. the chains are too much? seriously, the chains are the best part, the chains is what makes the suit go from eh to amazing.

when harry hears louis criticism on the other outfits, harry realizes he got the best critique. louis tells leslie that her dress looks messy and that the color (red) would look terrible on a red carpet. he also said "why didn't you fucking finish the hem?" which harry is sure they will not put in the episode.

then he tells candy that her design looks like someone threw it on the ground and stomped on it to create the dirty brown look. and he tells travis that his look was too extra and the feathers were "unneeded and disgusting."

so by the end of the critiques harry is feeling pretty good about his look. he's only a little nervous when they are asked to leave the runway in order for their looks to get a closer look.

harry almost cries when he wins the challenge.

he definitely cries when he when he wins the whole season.

the second time they meet: met gala 2020 after party

harry couldn't be more happy. it's been a year and a few months after he won project runway and things couldn't be better. he has the most well known people in the world calling him up asking for him to design them an outfit. he has designed outfits for award shows, charity events, movie premieres, and most recently, the met gala.

four of his best outfits are on show tonight at the met gala, one of which being a black and pink sequins gown that is definitely not as tacky as it sounds. the top has peachy pink sequins attached to sexy sheer. the bottom of the dress uses the same sheer fabric over a lot of black tool. the very bottom of the gown consist of the same peachy sequins. the skirt of the gown can come off to reveal the all sequined skirt of a beautiful cocktail dress.

the dress was on the one and only kendall jenner and she totally rocked it. harry couldn't be more proud of the dress and, even though it isn't the most extravagant dress here, harry thinks it's the most elegant one that still matches the overall theme of the gala. all night harry watched people watch kendall. he listened to people gasp when he helped take the skirt off to reveal a completely new dress.

once the skirt was off, harry really had no reason to stay at the after party other than to get drunk and try to talk to some crazy rich people. he knew a few people, like rihanna and joe jonas, but he really didn't know most of the people there.

harry sits at the bar and hopes that the people will come to him.

and he doesn't sit very long when louis tomlinson stumbles into the stool next to him.

harry is a little intimidated when he realizes that louis is sitting next to him. one bad critique from louis and all that harry has worked for since project runway could be flushed away. and, honestly, harry is still upset that louis told him that the chains were too much. because they most definitely were not, in fact, harry made chains the main theme in a lot of his lines. including the one that made him win project runway.

the music was too loud and harry almost didn't hear it when louis said, "so you designed kendall's dress?"

harry puts on his best grin and says, "yeah, out of all of my outfits here, i think hers really stole the show. don't you agree?"

louis purses his lips and says, "not the best here, but definitely a show stopper. you have other dresses here?"

harry nods and looks around the room hoping to find some of the other people he designed for. he doesn't find any of them though, they must have went to different after parties or back home. "well i designed winnie harlows beige and black feathers dress. i also designed cole sprouse's paint splattered suit, and blake lively's gown."

louis looks over at harry shocked. he chokes down the rest of his drink before asking, "you designed blake lively's? seriously?"

harry nodded and blushed. he hopes that louis shocked tone is a good thing and not a bad. blake's gown was fitted black with a long train of gold embroidery. it took harry a long time and hand stitch it, and the about of times he pricked his fingers was astounding.

"i thought blake's dress was one of the top outfits of the night. just under timmy's gucci suit." louis says. his eyes seem to blur and harry notices that he may actually be drunk, "i can't believe you designed that. the embroidery was dead on and the draping at the shoulders literally almost made me cum. i honestly didn't even think to ask who designed it. fuck."

harry throw's his head back and laughs, "no one has ever told me that one of my designs almost made them cum."

"there a first for everything," louis says. louis orders another drink and ask harry what he wants. harry acts nonchalant when he tells him what he wants, but his mind is going crazy with thoughts like "holy shit louis tomlinson likes my dress" and "louis tomlinson just ordered me a drink" and "fuck, louis tomlinson is touching my thigh."

"so, other than your own, obviously, who's outfit is the best?" louis asks.

"lady gaga or zendaya." harry says, "lady gaga's dress wasn't as extravagant as i thought it would be, but it was perfectly simple and it followed the theme. zendaya's didn't really follow the theme but it so extra that it made up for it. also the colors looked really great on her."

louis nods. there is a moment of silence before he stands up and holds out his hand to louis asking, "would you like to dance?"

harry blushes and nods, taking louis hand and letting louis drag him to the dance floor. there's some kind of techno music playing, and harry isn't really sure how to dance to it so he kinda just stiffly moves his hips and his arms.

louis, who was perfectly loose and perfectly perfect, just laughs at harry, and says, "you look dumb."

harry blushes and pouts, "i'm not a good dancer."

louis grins and yells into harry's ear saying, "i feel like this is the part where i seductively teach you how to dance, but i feel like if i tried it would not be as sexy as it sounds."

harry giggles and nods, "do you wanna go somewhere quieter? to talk."

before louis says anything harry grabs louis hand and drags him to the back door of the club (but not before stealing a half empty bottle of champagne from the table in the corner). earlier harry saw that there were benches out there, its a perfect place to get away from the party.

they sit down on the benches and harry watches as louis takes a pack of cigarettes from the inside of his suit jacket. louis lights it and he holds out the pack to harry, but harry shakes his head to decline louis silent offer. instead it takes a gulp of fancy champagne. somehow it taste worse than cheap champagne.

"so what's happened to you since you won project runway?" louis asks. harry cant help but notice how hot louis looks with he smokes.

"i used the money to put towards fabric and things for my own lines. uhm, and i got a lot of publicity from the show and the magazine." harry says. he takes another sip of the champagne. he really cant stop looking at louis lips, he's hoping that louis doesn't notice. "designers from project runway don't usually get as much publicity as i did, they don't usually continue to be successful after the show, so i'm glad that i did."

louis nods, "well you were great on the show. i watched the whole season. you worked well with a team, you were even good with costumed designs and the trash challenge.

"you thought my chains were too much." harry says with a frown, not understanding why louis would watch all of project runway, especially with the way he acted as a guest judge, like he was above everyone else. "when you were a guest judge you said the chains on my perfect suit were too much."

"well i couldn't tell you that your suit was perfect, it would have ruined my badass, hard to impress image." louis explains. he takes the champagne out of harry's hand and takes a couple sips of his own before adding, "but from what i remember it really was an outstanding suit."

"did you actually like my suit?" harry says with a grin, "i mean i kinda thought at the time that you didn't, like, hate it because you talked total shit about the other dresses, but you know, you didn't really give anything away with your facial expressions or anything. so, i'm totally glad that you actually liked my dress, because your opinion is actually more important than i originally thought. its just like, you are one of the most important journalist in the fashion ind-"

"harry," louis says with a small smile, "you are rambling, and i think you're little drunk. are you drunk, harry?"

harry laughs a little. he looks at louis but turns away again because he can't not look at his lips. louis definitely noticed. "no, yeah, i mean, yeah i'm probably drunk. "

they don't say anything else for a while but they continue to split the bottle of champagne between them.

"would you like to go on a date with me?" harry asks suddenly. he totally said it without thinking and he regrets it right away because that was totally uncalled for and random.

louis eyes widen, then they squint in confusion before he says, "um, no."

harry laughs nervously and he blushes before saying, "right, yeah, of course."

he stands up off the bench and goes towards the door. they are both probably too drunk for this. harry shouldn't have asked to begin with, but louis was just so pretty and harry couldn't just leave tonight without making some sort of move. obviously he made the wrong one.

"wait, har-" louis begins, but harry doesn't listen. instead harry just walks back into the party and goes to the front door to get his coat and get a taxi back home. he totally wallows in self pity during the whole thirty minute drive home.

third time they meet: harry's shop four days after met gala

the store louis walks into is perfectly minimalistic. the walls are an off white and pretty signs line the wall with sayings like "be your best self" and "self confidence is the best outfit." there are racks of casual clothes lining one wall, separated by men and women, and on the other wall there is formal wear.

"welcome to styles what can i help you with?" a peppy blond girl says at the desk in the back corner.

"um, is harry styles here?" louis asks, his voice is small and insecure and definitely not what it normally sounds like. he's just a little bit nervous, and he really wants to apologize to harry and make things right. he feels like he totally fucked up, and it took him four days to even walk through the doors of this store. (he walked past the store a few times a day, but always got too nervous to walk inside).

"yeah, do you have an appointment?" the girl asks. she's one of those girls who have a permanent smile on her face, louis can't tell if it's real or not.

"no, no." louis frowns, should he have made an appointment? no probably not. he doesn't really need an outfit, "um, i'm not here for clothes or anything. i just, uh, need to talk to him. could you tell him that louis here? louis tomlinson."

the girl, who is still smiling, just nods and dials a number on the landline phone on the desk. she exchanges a few words with who louis assumes is harry. louis nervously pulls at the end of his sweater waiting for her to get off the phone. harry is probably going to ask this nice lady to kick him out of his store. he probably never wants to see louis again.

"sir, if you'll follow me this way i'll take you to harry's office."

this whole situation seems a little pretentious, but louis tries not to think about that. instead he thinks about how harry doesn't want to kick louis out. maybe louis has a chance to fix this after all.

he follows the girl through a door behind the desk. there are rows of racks of clothes in the back and as he goes further back all the clothes turn into various fabrics and unfinished garments. louis see's harry through an open door at the back of the room. the girl knocks gently on the open door. harry turns around and smiles politely at her (he noticeably stops smiling when his eyes meet louis).

"come on in, louis." harry says, he doesn't meet louis eyes. louis try's not to take it too heart, he fools around with the mess of papers on the desk in a sad attempt to organize. "um, sorry about the mess, i'm just trying to design this dress for sarah hyland. i've, like created 79 different sketches and none of them are right."

louis isn't really sure what to say now that he's gotten this far, so he stands awkwardly by the door listens to harry ramble on about how sarah didn't even give him a color scheme, so he has too many options or something.

"anyways, that's- uhm, i'm sure you didn't come here to listen to my problems. so, uh, why are you here?" harry says, his cheeks are blushed and he is looking down at his feet.

"i wanted to apologize," louis says slowly. now that he's here and he's trying to talk he isn't sure what he should say. "for the party the other night. i said no before i even realized what you said. i was, like, really drunk. um, by the time i realized what you asked you already left. i'm so sorry. i would have said yes if i comprehended what you were saying like a normal fucking human. so i'm sorry for, like, being an asshole."

harry nods and gives louis a small smile, "it's okay. um, honestly, i really didn't understand what i was saying when i said it."

"right," louis says hesitantly, "right. so, uh, if i asked you out on a date right now, would you like to go on one?"

harry grins and nods way to enthusiastically, "a date? yeah. yeah i would love to go on a date. with you. i would love to go on a date with you."

louis smiles too, "cool, ace, great."

"right, so i actually have to get back to this dress, but i can give you my number." harry says, "so you can call or text me or something about details of this date."

"right, yeah," louis says, he blushes and fumbles for his phone. he is usually way more smooth than this but harry is making him into a mess. he opens the contacts on his phone and hands it to harry so harry can put in his number.

harry hands it back to him and says, "i texted myself, so i could have your number too. i hope that was okay."

"yeah, that's fine," louis says turning towards the door, "um sorry again for being an asshole. i will totally make it up to you."

"it's okay, louis, seriously it was just a miscommunication." harry says gently, "thanks for coming by. i will totally be looking forward to the date."

louis nods his head, "okay, well i will see you soon then. i'll text you."

"okay, goodbye louis." harry says with a laugh. he is probably noticing how awkward louis is being.

"right, goodbye." louis whispers before basically running out to his car. he is almost 100% mortified. why was he so awkward? so nervous? he was acting like it was the first time hes ever asked someone out. louis was probably more smooth when he was in third grade asking a girl out for the first time.

louis gets into his car and drives back to his own house. he has a date to plan and it seriously got to be perfect. he has to make up for the fact that he is a total embarrassment.

the fourth time they meet: louis' fantastic date

louis was more than a little nervous. after many google searches and advice from his friends louis finally came up with a date that was simple but not predictable: a painting class. louis is sure that harry has probably perfected the art of painting, and if anything they can both make fun of louis lack of talent in that area. after the painting class, louis plans to take harry to the food trucks around the corner so they can try a piece of food from all the trucks.

louis almost cries when he see's harry come out of his condo complex. harry's outfit is perfectly put together: black sheer rose shirt tucked into high rise light colored skinny jeans with black with rose printed booties. harry's hair was perfectly wavy and to top off the look he had blood red painted nails. god, does louis love a man with a taste of style.

before harry has the chance to open louis passenger side door louis leaps out of the car and pulls harry into a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek saying, "you look breathtaking, harry, i'm so glad you decided to come on the date."

louis might come off as a little over enthusiastic, but the beautiful blush finding its way into harry's cheeks makes him forget about the over enthusiasm. louis grins and opens the passenger door for harry. harry smiles back and slides into louis car.

good, so he can check off 'step one: charm harry styles from the get-go' from his mental list. now he just has to achieve 'step two: don't make a fool of yourself the whole night' and 'step three: get a second date'. he was going to add a 'step four: kiss by the end of the night!!!' but he didn't know if that was overstepping.

harry clears his throat and says, "you look really great tonight. is that burberry?"

louis grins and nods, tugging at his over coat. this coat was one of his most prized possessions, he was almost scared to wear it tonight because he was afraid he would come off as spoiled or pretentious. he's glad harry appreciates it.

"so how's that look for sarah hyland coming along?" louis asks. along with his other list, he's also mentally made up a list of questions to ask harry so they never lack conversation.

harry's face lights up and he says, "it's going so great. i think it's going to turn out being an ankle length fitted dark red dress. i will probably add glitter somewhere, because that's something she specially asked for, but i also want to keep it simple."

"what's the dress for?" louis asks, maybe he would attend the event, or at the very least get sent pictures of outfits to judge to go in a journal entry.

"it's for the finale of modern family. this is their last season ever, so the are having, like, a crazy after party." harry explains, "i'm hoping this dress will make her look mature and professional, not like the girl she started off as when she first started the show, you know?"

louis nods. nobody likes a dress that makes the wearer look younger than intended, but what's worse is a dress that makes the wearer look older.

"what about you? do you have any fun events coming up relating to, you know, work?" harry asks.

louis shakes his head, "not really, i think i have to go to a few runway shows and some fittings as a judge, but after the met things really slow down until fall, since all the spring and summer lines have already come out."

"my summer line hasn't come out yet," harry says.

"i didn't know you planned on having summer line." louis says.

"i do. it's casual, affordable clothes though, so nothing that's really, like, breathtaking. i'm finishing up a couple looks before i even start publicizing it," harry explains.

"casual, affordable clothes." louis repeats, "so what, like joggers or somethin?"

"uh, yeah, no." harry says, like he's nervous, "well i have a few different kinds of shorts and i have some cute tee's. i made a couple t-shirt dresses. just stuff like that."

louis hums and pulls into the parking lot of the painting place called painting with a twist. painting with a twist is basically a class where a whole bunch of people paint one specific picture. it's sounds boring, but louis did it with a few of his friends a few months ago and it was pretty fun. especially when they brought alcohol and were thoroughly tipsy by the time they left. 

"we're painting?" harry asks.

louis can't tell by the tone of harry's voice if he is happy or upset about it.

"yeah, it's fun i swear." louis says, "plus it's, like, date night painting. to it's one couple painting one portrait, i've never done it with another person, but it's supposed to be fun."

harry doesn't say anything but he nods a grins. so louis takes it as a good thing and not a "wow you're so fucking lame" thing.

"i brought a few shitty t-shirts." louis says, he leans to the back of his car and grabs an old wonder woman t-shirt and an old batman t-shirt, "i figured you wouldn't want to ruin your shirt, and we can change back into our regular shirts before we go out to dinner."

"that's considerate of you." harry says, grabbing the wonder woman shirt from louis hands. he doesn't hesitate before untucking is shirt and taking it off, then slipping on the tee.

louis try's not to stare too hard but he can't not stare. the sheer shirt didn't leave much to the imagination but seeing him without a shirt, if even for a few seconds, made him want to drool and then lick the butterfly (moth?) tattoo on his abdomen.

once harry gets his t-shirt on louis takes off his own shirt and replaces it with the other one. louis and harry walk together into the building and are lead to a room where the painting class will be. they sit on two stools in front of a blank canvas. the correct colors and bridges needed for this painting is already set out beside them and the instructor is standing in the corner talking to a couple. louis didn't really look at what they were painting when he made the appointment and when he looks up at the screen in front of him he see's a lone tree in front of a starry night with a big moon, so he assumes that's what they are painting.

"this is very unique." harry says to louis, "i can't believe you thought of something like this for a date."

louis looks around the room at all the other couples. they seem to have put black aprons on, so he searches for a rack or something that may have the aprons. he finds them on the far left wall and drags harry to the wall. he helps harry tie the apron around his back while harry does the same for him.

they talk while they wait for the artist lady to come upfront and tell them what to do. louis has never been much of a painter, so his final product was kind of shit. but harry's final picture was awesome, way better than the instructors. he's definitely not saying that to flatter harry.

they change when they get into the car and put their paintings gently in the back. they drive to the food truck place only a few miles away and park. harry and louis spend the next few hours going from food truck to food truck and listening to some live music. they stop and sit after every truck and talk about the food they are eating to they talk about their family and their friends and their life. the conversation never gets dry and louis is constantly making harry laugh. 

by the end of the date louis has, in fact, completed step three (ask for an second date) and step four (kiss).

louis couldn't be happier.


End file.
